JP2020154172A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To clearly inform a user that a cartridge is correctly attached or detached.SOLUTION: A plurality of storage units 30 each include a first projection 30P that projects in a direction intersecting a storage direction of a cartridge 40. The first projection 30P includes a first inclined part 30S that is inclined such that the amount of projection becomes larger toward the depth side in the storage direction. The plurality of cartridges 40 each include a lever 43 that is movable in the direction intersecting the storage direction, and a second projection 43P that projects in a direction opposite to the first projection 30P from the lever 43. The second projection 43P includes a second inclined part 43S that is inclined such that the amount of projection becomes smaller toward the depth side in the storage direction. Forces required for operations to push in the plurality of cartridges in the storage direction into a locked state are equal to each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the main body.

An image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, or a multifunction device includes an image forming apparatus main body and a cartridge attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body. The cartridge is, for example, a developing cartridge, a fixing cartridge, a drum cartridge, a toner cartridge (toner container), or the like. It is desirable that these cartridges be easy to put on and take off not only for trained service personnel but also for general users. Therefore, conventionally, a technique for improving the operability of the cartridge has been studied. For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a convex portion is provided on one of the image forming apparatus main body and the cartridge, and a concave portion is provided on the other, and the convex portion or the concave portion is elastically deformed so that the convex portion is fitted into the concave portion. It has been proposed to give a feeling of operation when putting on and taking off.

JP-A-2010-61062 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-62970

In the image forming apparatus described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the user determines whether or not the cartridge is correctly accommodated based on the operation feeling when accommodating the cartridge. However, if the operation feeling is different among a plurality of cartridges, the criterion for determining whether or not the cartridges are correctly housed differs for each cartridge, and the user may be confused.

In consideration of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of clearly telling a user that a cartridge has been correctly housed.

In order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing provided with a plurality of accommodating portions and a plurality of cartridges accommodating for each of the plurality of accommodating portions. Each of the accommodating portions includes a first projecting portion that projects in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction of the cartridge, and the first projecting portion has a first inclination that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion increases toward the back side in the accommodating direction. Each of the plurality of cartridges includes a lever that can move in a direction intersecting the accommodation direction and a second protrusion that protrudes from the lever in a direction opposite to the first protrusion. The second projecting portion includes a second inclined portion that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion becomes smaller toward the back side in the accommodating direction, and when each of the plurality of cartridges is accommodated in the accommodating portion, the cartridge is accommodated. By the operation of pushing in the accommodating direction, the second inclined portion slides with respect to the first inclined portion, the second protruding portion gets over the first protruding portion, and then the second protruding portion is pushed out. By locking to the first protruding portion, the cartridge is configured to be in a locked state in which the movement of the cartridge is restricted, and the operation required for pushing the plurality of cartridges in the accommodating direction until the locked state is reached. It is characterized by having equal forces.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet, and the accommodating portion in which the developing cartridge is accommodated is The first inclined portion of the accommodating portion and the developing cartridge are provided with a coupling that presses the developing cartridge in a direction opposite to the accommodating direction in the process of accommodating the developing cartridge in the accommodating portion. The second inclined portion may have a smaller inclination angle with respect to the accommodating direction than the first inclined portion of the accommodating portion accommodating the fixing cartridge and the second inclined portion of the fixing cartridge.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet, and the housing portion in which the developing cartridge is housed is In the process of accommodating the developing cartridge in the accommodating portion, the developing cartridge is provided with a coupling that presses the developing cartridge in a direction opposite to the accommodating direction, and each of the plurality of cartridges has the lever in the projecting direction of the second projecting portion. The urging member of the developing cartridge may be weaker than the urging member of the fixing cartridge.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet, and the developing cartridge has the accommodating direction as the longitudinal direction. The accommodating portion is provided with one lever at the front end in the accommodating direction, and the accommodating portion in which the developing cartridge is accommodated includes one first protruding portion. The shape has a shape in which the direction intersecting the accommodation direction is the longitudinal direction, the levers are provided at two locations in the direction intersecting the accommodation direction, and the width of the fixing cartridge in the direction intersecting the accommodation direction is the development. The accommodating portion, which is wider than the width of the direction intersecting the accommodating direction of the cartridge and accommodating the fixing cartridge, may be provided with the first protruding portion at two positions in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the housing includes an exterior cover that closes the housing portion, the plurality of cartridges have the same number of operations required for replacement, and the operation of replacing the plurality of cartridges is performed. The operation of opening the exterior cover, the operation of moving the lever to release the locked state of the cartridge, the operation of pulling out the cartridge whose locked state has been released, and the operation of pushing the replacement cartridge into the accommodating portion. There may be an operation of locking the outer cover and an operation of closing the outer cover.

According to the present invention, it is possible to clearly inform the user that the cartridge has been correctly housed.

It is a side view which shows typically the internal structure of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the appearance of the printer which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the development cartridge which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state of accommodating a development cartridge in the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the fixing cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the fixing cartridge which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state of accommodating a fixing cartridge in the fixing cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state of accommodating the development cartridge in the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state of accommodating the development cartridge in the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state of accommodating the development cartridge in the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state of accommodating the development cartridge in the development cartridge accommodating part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the printer 1 (an example of an image forming apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the internal configuration of the printer 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the printer 1. In each figure, U, Lo, L, R, Fr, and Rr indicate up, down, left, right, front, and back, respectively. Further, in the following description, the upstream and the downstream mean the upstream and the downstream in the transport direction H of the sheet S, respectively.

The printer 1 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 2. A paper feed cassette 3 for accommodating the paper sheet S is provided in the lower portion of the housing 2. A paper output tray 4 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 2. A first exterior cover 30C that can be opened and closed is provided on the front surface of the housing 2 above the paper feed cassette 3. A second exterior cover 50C that can be opened and closed is provided on the right side surface of the housing 2 above the paper feed cassette 3.

The printer 1 includes a paper feed roller 5, an image forming unit 6, a fixing unit 7, a transport path 8, and a control unit 9 inside the housing 2. The paper feed roller 5 is provided at the upstream end of the transport path 8 from the paper feed cassette 3 to the paper output tray 4. An image forming unit 6, a fixing unit 7, and a paper ejection port 21 are provided on the downstream side of the paper feed roller 5 in this order from the upstream side. A paper ejection roller 22 is provided at the paper ejection port 21.

The image forming unit 6 includes four toner containers 10, an intermediate transfer belt 11, four drum units 12, and an optical scanning unit 13. The four toner containers 10 contain toners (developer) of four colors (yellow, magenta, cyan, and black). The drum unit 12 includes a photoconductor drum 14, a charging unit 15, a developing unit 16, a primary transfer roller 17, and a cleaning unit 18. The primary transfer roller 17 is provided so as to sandwich the intermediate transfer belt 11 with the photoconductor drum 14. A secondary transfer roller 19 is in contact with the right side of the intermediate transfer belt 11 to form a transfer nip.

The control unit 9 includes a calculation unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and the like. It has a storage unit. The control unit controls each unit of the printer 1 by using the control program and control data stored in the storage unit.

The control unit 9 controls each of the above units and executes the image forming process as follows. The charging unit 15 charges the surface of the photoconductor drum 14. The photoconductor drum 14 receives the scanning light emitted from the optical scanning unit 13 and carries an electrostatic latent image. The developing unit 16 develops an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum 14 into a toner image using the toner supplied from the toner container 10. The primary transfer roller 17 primary transfers the toner image on the photoconductor drum 14 to the rotating intermediate transfer belt 11. The intermediate transfer belt 11 carries a full-color toner image in which four-color toner images are superimposed while rotating. The sheet S is sent out from the paper cassette 3 to the transport path 8 by the paper feed roller 5. The secondary transfer roller 19 secondarily transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11 to the sheet S passing through the transfer nip. The fixing portion 7 heat-fixes the toner image to the sheet S. After that, the sheet S is sandwiched and conveyed by the paper ejection roller 22, and is ejected to the paper ejection tray 4 through the paper ejection port 21. The cleaning unit 18 removes the toner remaining on the photoconductor drum 14.

Next, the outline of the developing cartridge 40 and the fixing cartridge 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6B. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the developing cartridge 40. FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing how the developing cartridge 40 is housed in the developing cartridge housing section 30. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50. FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the fixing cartridge 60. FIG. 6B is a perspective view showing how the fixing cartridge 60 is accommodated in the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50.

The printer 1 includes a housing 2 having a plurality of accommodating portions (development cartridge accommodating portion 30, fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50) and a plurality of cartridges (development cartridge 40, fixing) accommodating in each of the plurality of accommodating portions. The cartridge 60) and each of the plurality of accommodating portions include a first projecting portion 30P protruding in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction of the cartridge, and the first projecting portion 30P is on the back side in the accommodating direction. A first inclined portion 30S inclined so that the amount of protrusion is increased, and each of the plurality of cartridges has a lever 43 that can move in a direction intersecting the accommodation direction, and the first protruding portion from the lever 43. The second protruding portion 43P is provided with a second protruding portion 43P protruding in the direction opposite to that of the 30P, and the second protruding portion 43P is provided with a second inclined portion 43S inclined so that the protrusion amount becomes smaller toward the back side in the accommodation direction. When each of the plurality of cartridges is accommodated in the accommodating portion, the second inclined portion 43S slides with respect to the first inclined portion 30S by the operation of pushing the cartridge in the accommodating direction. After the protruding portion 43P gets over the first protruding portion 30P, the second protruding portion 43P is pushed out and locked to the first protruding portion 30P, so that the movement of the cartridge is restricted in a locked state. It is characterized in that the forces required for the operation of pushing the plurality of cartridges in the accommodating direction until the locked state is obtained are equal to each other. Specifically, it is as follows.

FIG. 3 shows how the first exterior cover 30C is opened. At the back of the first exterior cover 30C, four developing cartridge housing portions 30 are formed side by side in the left-right direction. The developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 is formed in a groove shape having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 4A, the developing cartridge 40 includes a developing cartridge housing 41 whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction, and a developing section 16 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 4B, the developing cartridge 40 is housed in the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 in the direction from the front to the rear (accommodation direction 40in), and the developing cartridge 40 is accommodated in the direction from the rear to the front (pulling direction 40out). It is pulled out from the housing unit 30.

FIG. 5 shows how the second exterior cover 50C is opened. A fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50 is formed behind the second exterior cover 50C. As shown in FIG. 6A, the fixing cartridge 60 includes a fixing cartridge housing 61 having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction and a fixing portion 7 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 6B, the fixing cartridge 60 is housed in the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50 in the direction from right to left (accommodation direction 60in), and is accommodated in the direction from left to right (pulling direction 60out). ) Is pulled out from the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50. The width of the fixing cartridge 60 in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction 60in is wider than the width of the developing cartridge 40 in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction 40in.

Next, the details of the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 and the developing cartridge 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing how the second protruding portion 43P is located on the front side of the first protruding portion 30P. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing how the second protruding portion 43P rides on the first protruding portion 30P. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the second protruding portion 43P rides on the first protruding portion 30P. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing how the second protruding portion 43P is located on the back side of the first protruding portion 30P. 7 to 10 show a cross section having a normal in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 includes a first projecting portion 30P projecting upward (direction intersecting the accommodating direction of the developing cartridge 40). The first protruding portion 30P includes a first inclined portion 30S that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion increases toward the back side in the accommodation direction of 40 inches.

The developing cartridge housing 41 includes an eaves portion 42 that protrudes forward from the front end portion thereof. A lever 43 projecting forward is arranged below the eaves portion 42. The lever 43 is supported by the developing cartridge housing 41 and can move in the vertical direction (direction intersecting the developing cartridge accommodating direction 40in). The second protruding portion 43P projects downward from the lever 43 (in the direction opposite to that of the first protruding portion 30P). The second protruding portion 43P includes a second inclined portion 43S that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion becomes smaller toward the back side in the accommodation direction of 40 inches. The inclination angle β of the second inclined portion 43S with respect to the accommodating direction 40in is equal to the inclination angle α of the first inclined portion 30S with respect to the accommodating direction 40in. The lever 43 includes a spring receiving portion 45 facing the lower surface of the eaves 42, and the coil spring 44 (biasing member) is sandwiched between the upper surface of the spring receiving portion and the lower surface of the eaves. The coil spring 44 urges the lever 43 downward (the protruding direction of the second protruding portion 43P).

Next, the operation when the developing cartridge 40 is housed in the developing cartridge housing section 30 will be described. First, when the user pushes the developing cartridge 40 into the accommodation direction 40 inches, the second inclined surface 43S approaches the first inclined portion 30S with the second inclined surface 43S facing the first inclined portion 30S (FIG. 7). (See), the second inclined surface 43S comes into contact with the first inclined surface 40S. At this time, the movement of the developing cartridge 40 is blocked by the first protruding portion 30P, but the second inclined portion 43S slides upward with respect to the first inclined portion 30S by increasing the force with which the user pushes the developing cartridge 40. After moving (see FIG. 8), the second protruding portion 43P rides on the first protruding portion 30P (see FIG. 9), the second protruding portion 43P gets over the first protruding portion 30P, and then the second protruding portion is formed by the coil spring 44. The 43P is pushed downward and locked to the first protruding portion, so that the movement of the cartridge is restricted to a locked state.

Next, the operation when the developing cartridge 40 is pulled out from the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 will be described. First, the locked state of the developing cartridge 40 is released by the operation of the user moving the lever 43 upward against the urging by the coil spring 44. After that, the user pulls out the developing cartridge 40 in the pulling direction 40out.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6A, the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50 includes first protruding portions 30P at two locations in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction 60in, and the fixing cartridge 60 corresponds to the first projecting portion 30P2. The eaves portion 42, the lever 43, and the urging member 44 are provided at the locations. The configuration of these two locations is the same as that shown in FIG. 7, except that the accommodation direction 40in and the withdrawal direction 40out are replaced with the accommodation direction 60in and the extraction direction 60out, respectively. The fixing cartridge 60 is accommodated and pulled out by operating the two levers 43 with the left and right hands, respectively. Since the operation of the fixing cartridge 60 at the time of accommodating and pulling out is the same as that of the developing cartridge 40, the description thereof will be omitted.

By the way, the feeling of operation when accommodating the cartridge is mainly determined by the magnitude of the force required for the operation. The user determines whether or not the cartridge is correctly stored based on the feeling of operation. However, if the operation feeling is different among a plurality of cartridges, the criterion for determining whether or not the cartridges are correctly housed differs for each cartridge, and the user may be confused.

For example, the developing cartridge accommodating unit 30 is provided with a coupling (not shown) that transmits a driving force to the developing unit 16, and a load that the coupling presses the developing cartridge 40 forward acts on the coupling. On the other hand, no forward load acts on the fixing cartridge 60. Therefore, the force required for the operation of accommodating the developing cartridge 40 is larger than the force required for the operation of accommodating the fixing cartridge 60.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the forces required for the accommodating operation of the plurality of cartridges are configured to be equal. Specifically, the magnitude of the force required for the operation of pushing the cartridge in the accommodating direction until it is locked is smaller as the first inclined portion 30S and the second inclined portion 43S are closer to horizontal. From this, the inclination angle α of the first inclined portion 30S of the developing cartridge accommodating portion 30 and the inclination angle β of the second inclined portion 43S of the developing cartridge 40 are set to the inclination angle α of the first inclined portion 30S of the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50. By forming the fixing cartridge 60 so as to be closer to horizontal than the inclination angle β of the second inclined portion 43S, the force required for the operation of accommodating the developing cartridge 40 is the force required for the operation of accommodating the fixing cartridge 60. Can be equal to.

Further, the magnitude of the force required for the operation of pushing the cartridge in the accommodating direction until it is locked is smaller as the urging force of the coil spring 44 is smaller. From this, by making the urging force of the coil spring 44 of the developing cartridge 40 weaker than the urging force of the coil spring 44 of the fixing cartridge 60, the force required for the operation until the developing cartridge 40 is pushed in the accommodating direction and locked. Can be equalized to the force required for the operation until the fixing cartridge 60 is pushed in the accommodating direction and locked.

According to the printer 1 according to the present embodiment described above, since the operation feelings of the plurality of cartridges can be made equal, it is possible to clearly inform the user that the cartridges are correctly accommodated.

Further, according to the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the fixing cartridge accommodating portion 50 includes first protruding portions 30P at two locations in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction 60in, and the fixing cartridge 60 is provided in the first projecting portion 30P. The eaves 42, the lever 43, and the urging member 44 are provided at the corresponding two locations, and the levers 43 at the two locations are accommodated by operating the left and right hands, respectively. On the other hand, the developing cartridge 40 is accommodated by operating the lever 43 with one hand. Therefore, since the load when the fixing cartridge 60 is accommodated is distributed to the left and right hands, the magnitude of the load applied to each of the left and right hands can be made equal to the magnitude of the load applied to one hand when the developing cartridge 40 is accommodated. ..

Further, according to the printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the operations for exchanging a plurality of cartridges include an operation of opening the exterior cover, an operation of moving the lever to release the locked state of the cartridges, and an operation of releasing the locked state. It has an operation of pulling out the cartridge, an operation of pushing the replacement cartridge into the accommodating portion to lock it, and an operation of closing the outer cover, and since the number of operations required for replacement is the same for each of the plurality of cartridges. It makes it easier for users to remember the replacement procedure.

The above embodiment may be modified as follows.

In the above embodiment, the developing cartridge and the fixing cartridge are shown as examples of the cartridges, but the present invention may be applied to a drum cartridge, a toner cartridge, or the like.

1 Printer (image forming device)
2 Housing 7 Fixing part 16 Developing part 30 Developing cartridge housing part (accommodating part)
30C 1st exterior cover (exterior cover)
30P 1st protruding part 30S 1st inclined part 40 Development cartridge (cartridge)
43 Lever 43P 2nd protruding part 43S 2nd inclined part 44 Coil spring (urging member)
50 Fixing cartridge accommodating part (accommodation part)
50C 2nd exterior cover (exterior cover)
60 Fixing cartridge (cartridge)

Claims (5)

A housing with multiple housings and
A plurality of cartridges capable of accommodating each of the plurality of accommodating portions are provided.
Each of the plurality of accommodating portions includes a first projecting portion that projects in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction of the cartridge.
The first protruding portion includes a first inclined portion that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion increases toward the back side in the accommodation direction.
Each of the plurality of cartridges
A lever that can move in a direction that intersects the accommodation direction,
A second protruding portion that protrudes from the lever in the direction opposite to the first protruding portion is provided.
The second protruding portion includes a second inclined portion that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion becomes smaller toward the back side in the accommodation direction.
When each of the plurality of cartridges is accommodated in the accommodating portion, the second inclined portion slides with respect to the first inclined portion by the operation of pushing the cartridge in the accommodating direction, and the second protrusion After the portion has passed over the first protruding portion, the second protruding portion is pushed out and locked to the first protruding portion, so that the movement of the cartridge is restricted to a locked state.
An image forming apparatus, characterized in that the forces required for the operation of pushing the plurality of cartridges in the accommodating direction until the locked state is obtained are equal. The plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet.
The accommodating portion in which the developing cartridge is accommodated includes a coupling that presses the developing cartridge in a direction opposite to the accommodating direction in the process of accommodating the developing cartridge in the accommodating portion.
The first inclined portion of the accommodating portion for accommodating the developing cartridge and the second inclined portion of the developing cartridge are the first inclined portion of the accommodating portion accommodating the fixing cartridge and the second inclined portion of the fixing cartridge. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle with respect to the accommodation direction is smaller than that of the inclined portion. The plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet.
The housing unit in which the developing cartridge is housed includes a coupling that presses the developing cartridge in a direction opposite to the housing direction in the process of housing the developing cartridge in the housing unit.
Each of the plurality of cartridges includes an urging member that urges the lever in the projecting direction of the second projecting portion.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the urging member of the developing cartridge has a weaker urging force than the urging member of the fixing cartridge. The plurality of cartridges include a developing cartridge for developing a toner image and a fixing cartridge for fixing the toner image on a sheet.
The developing cartridge has a shape in which the accommodating direction is the longitudinal direction, and includes one of the levers at the front end of the accommodating direction.
The housing portion in which the developing cartridge is housed includes one said first protrusion.
The fixing cartridge has a shape whose longitudinal direction intersects the accommodating direction, and is provided with the levers at two locations in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction.
The width of the fixing cartridge in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction is wider than the width of the developing cartridge in the direction intersecting the accommodating direction.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the accommodating portion in which the fixing cartridge is accommodated includes the first protruding portion at two locations in a direction intersecting the accommodating direction. The housing includes an exterior cover that closes the housing.
The plurality of cartridges have the same number of operations required for replacement.
The operations for exchanging the plurality of cartridges include an operation of opening the exterior cover, an operation of moving the lever to release the locked state of the cartridge, and an operation of pulling out the cartridge in which the locked state is released. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation of pushing a replacement cartridge into the housing portion to bring it into the locked state and an operation of closing the exterior cover.

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